After being teased at the event where Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, the Gear S2 smartwatch was unveiled earlier this month. Unlike its predecessor, it features a circular display and new ways to interact with the UI through a mechanical rotating bezel around and its hardware buttons. The watch comes in two differently designed versions, the regular Gear S2 features a rather futuristic look and two color variants and there’s also an option with 3G connectivity. The Gear S2 Classic, on the other hand, features a more traditional look with a design that resembles timepieces that have been around for a long time.
They all feature a 1.2-inch display with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels, they are powered by a dual-core 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. The internal storage is 4 GB and there’s NFC technology, making them compatible with the company’s mobile payment system, Samsung Pay. It runs on Samsung’s own operating system Tizen, instead of Android Wear and while some apps might not be available, the watch is compatible with many Android devices not made by the company. The hardware is rated IP68, making it dust and water resistant.
Samsung mentioned that the Gear S2 would be available in October, and not many more details have surfaced. Now, according to an employee training video, we got to know more details regarding availability in the US. The watch will launch at Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular and it was said that Sprint won’t have it available at that time and it wasn’t specified if it will be available at a later date for the carrier. The launch date for the Bluetooth version is October 2nd and the one that supports 3G connectivity will be launched on November 6th, but it wasn’t clear if all of the aforementioned carriers will sell this variant. So far, only Verizon and T-Mobile are confirmed to sell the 3G version. Another detail that was discussed is the fact that the watch has an embedded SIM card, so it’s not possible to switch this card between carriers. Still, it seems that we will have to wait a little longer for pricing information.